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NDTV
4 days ago
- Health
- NDTV
Don't Ignore These Signs Of An Unhealthy Gut
An unhealthy gut refers to an imbalance in the composition and function of the gut microbiome—trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the digestive tract. When harmful microbes outnumber the beneficial ones, or when the gut lining is damaged, it can lead to a wide range of digestive and systemic issues. Since the gut plays a central role in digestion, immune regulation, mental health, and nutrient absorption, even slight disruptions can have a ripple effect throughout the body. An unhealthy gut often goes unnoticed until symptoms become persistent or affect daily life. Read on as we share signs of an unhealthy gut. Signs of an unhealthy gut you shouldn't ignore 1. Persistent bloating and gas Frequent bloating and excessive gas, especially after eating, may indicate imbalanced gut bacteria or difficulty digesting certain foods. It can be a sign of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or a lack of digestive enzymes, both of which hinder proper digestion and cause discomfort. 2. Constipation or diarrhoea Chronic constipation or diarrhoea can signal an unhealthy gut. When the gut microbiome is imbalanced, it affects how efficiently waste moves through the colon. Too few good bacteria can lead to sluggish digestion (constipation), while inflammation or infection can result in frequent loose stools (diarrhoea). 3. Frequent heartburn or acid reflux Acid reflux or persistent heartburn may result from an imbalance in stomach acid or the growth of harmful bacteria like H. pylori. An unhealthy gut can also weaken the lower oesophageal sphincter, allowing stomach contents to back flow and cause burning sensations. 4. Food intolerances or sensitivities If you suddenly find yourself reacting poorly to foods you once tolerated well like dairy, gluten, or certain vegetables, it could indicate gut inflammation or damaged intestinal lining. This can cause your immune system to overreact to certain food proteins. 5. Unexplained fatigue or low energy When your gut is unhealthy, nutrient absorption is often compromised. Deficiencies in iron, vitamin B12, and magnesium can lead to fatigue. Additionally, chronic inflammation in the gut can trigger fatigue as the body diverts energy to immune responses. 6. Skin problems The gut-skin connection is powerful. Toxins from a leaky or imbalanced gut may enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation, leading to flare-ups of acne, eczema, or rosacea. Many chronic skin issues are now linked to gut health disturbances. 7. Mood swings, anxiety, or depression The gut produces about 90% of the body's serotonin, the feel-good hormone. An unhealthy gut can interfere with this production, contributing to mood disorders. Also, gut inflammation may trigger the release of cytokines that affect brain function and mood. 8. Frequent infections or low immunity Over 70% of the immune system is located in the gut. If you're constantly getting sick, catching colds easily, or recovering slowly, your gut may not be supporting your immune defence effectively. Poor gut health weakens the barrier against harmful pathogens. 9. Bad breath Persistent bad breath, especially when not related to oral hygiene, can point to digestive issues. Imbalanced gut bacteria can create foul-smelling gases and toxins that rise up from the digestive tract into the mouth. Recognising the signs early can help prevent chronic conditions and improve overall health. Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Record
Oncology expert's cancer warning over common food eaten 2.2billion times a year in UK
Dr Tim Tiutan has warned that a certain food item can increase the risk of developing cancer. An oncology expert has issued a stark warning about a ubiquitous food item that's a staple in many British households, so much so that the UK consumes a staggering 2.2billion servings each year. Dr Tim Tiutan, an internal medicine doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, highlighted the dangers of instant noodles, drawing a connection to heightened cancer risk. Dr Tiutan explained: "High salt diets can increase cancer risk by disrupting your stomach lining and fueling H. pylori infections-a major driver of stomach cancer. Excessive salt is associated with increasing stomach cancer risk by 55 per cent and may even double the risk when H. pylori is present." He advised: "Reduce your salt intake to one teaspoon per day and try to eat high salt foods like these sparingly. Bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages, deli meats, preserved foods, canned soups, instant noodles." The doctor added: "This isn't about fear-mongering. Small diet changes can lower cancer risk. Sodium is essential to life, but too much can be harmful. High salt intake leads to hypertension and other chronic medical conditions too. "Sometimes health providers ask patients to take in more salt for various medical reasons, which people should follow," According to NHS guidelines, individuals should not exceed 6g of salt per day to avoid serious health issues, such as heart problems, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, and others. However, it's alarming that just one packet of instant noodles might contain up to 6g of salt—the full amount recommended for a whole day—accounted for in both the noodles themselves and the flavouring sachet. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a type of bacteria that infects the stomach, reports Bristol Live. It's incredibly prevalent - over half the world's population carries it - but many individuals are unaware they're infected. It harms the protective lining of the stomach, leading to gastritis, ulcers and cancer. Recent studies have discovered that excessive salt consumption boosts the risk of stomach cancer by between 41 and 100 per cent. Just a couple of months ago a medical professional warned that consuming too little salt could pose greater risks than overindulgence. Gastroenterologist Dr Saurabh Sethi has shed light on the potential consequences of eliminating salt from our diets for an extended period. While health practitioners frequently highlight the "dangers" of excessive salt intake, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, kidney damage, osteoporosis, cancer, and dementia, Dr Sethi emphasises that insufficient salt can also be "extremely harmful". According to him, salt is a vital electrolyte that aids our bodies in water retention. He explained: "Without it, you would likely experience severe dehydration [and] your blood volume will decrease significantly, leading to a drop in blood pressure". Furthermore, Dr Sethi noted that cravings for salty foods could become "very intense" if one's diet lacks adequate salt. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Gastroenterologist shares 4 simple ways to lower your stomach cancer risk: 'Eat broccoli, garlic and…'
Stomach cancer is the 5th most common cancer worldwide, the World Cancer Research Fund states. It is the 4th most common cancer in men and the 7th most common cancer in women, with India ranking 3rd in the highest stomach cancer incidence list in 2022. Also Read | Happy birthday, Suhana Khan: When Shah Rukh's daughter revealed beauty secret she inherited from Gauri Khan Though the cancer is relatively common, you can lower its risk by following simple lifestyle habits. According to Dr Saurabh Sethi, an internal medicine doctor and gastroenterologist, there are four ways with which you can lower your stomach cancer risk. In a video shared on May 21 on Instagram, Dr Sethi listed the 4 evidence-based habits that one can easily adapt into their lifestyle. A post shared by Saurabh Sethi (@ Dr Sethi suggested including cruciferous vegetables in your daily diet. He suggested, 'Eat cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. These are rich in sulforaphane, which is a cancer-fighting compound.' The second tip is to add garlic to your diet. According to Dr Sethi, garlic contains allicin. It is a defence molecule from garlic which has also been shown to have anti-cancer properties in preclinical studies. According to a report in the National Library of Medicine, in mammalian cell lines, including cancer cells, allicin induces cell death and inhibits cell proliferation. Dr Sethi suggested limiting the intake of processed meats like sausages and bacon, as they are linked to a higher risk of stomach cancer. Lastly, he stressed that if you're suffering from persistent upper abdominal discomfort or indigestion, get tested for H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori. Per the gastroenterologist, H. pylori is a major risk factor for stomach cancer. Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
An engaging medical memoir that sparks important questions
In 'Untold Tales from a Family Physician's Bag', B.C. Rao chronicles decades of clinical experiences with a mix of medical insight, personal anecdotes, and social observations. The book is part memoir, part casebook -- and while it attempts to unpack the human complexities behind diagnosis and treatment, it also opens up difficult, necessary conversations about the limitations of the system itself -- the broader social, ethical, and systemic issues -- sometimes insightfully, sometimes awkwardly. Dr. Rao writes with the confidence of someone who has seen much and thought deeply about it. His tone is often frank, occasionally humourous, and, at times, wryly critical -- especially of patients who 'google too much,' hop between doctors, or fail to disclose symptoms fully. The medical system -- diagnosis, privilege and pressure Some of the most layered reflections come in the chapters dealing with patriarchy and sexual health. In one, a patient embarrassed to speak of sexual issues is eventually found to have tuberculosis of the prostate --something that mirrors the importance of full disclosure, but also how cultural taboos keep patients silent. These stories open up space for medical education and awareness. There are genuinely useful takeaways-- like the evolving understanding of ulcers (from stress to H. pylori, and the Nobel-winning discovery by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren) and the complexity of diagnosing conditions like ischemic heart disease or transverse myelitis. However, the humour in some chapters -- particularly when dealing with 'difficult' or multi-symptom patients can feel like it stems from a place of privilege. What might be exhausting for the doctor is, for the patient, often the lived chaos of chronic illness. There's room here for a deeper reckoning: How can the medical community better hold space for suffering that doesn't fit a neat diagnostic box? Dr. Rao ambitiously tries to place medicine within broader societal contexts -- touching on patriarchy, caste, stigma, and sexual health. These are essential and relevant themes. But in doing so, the book sometimes risks overstretching its metaphors or tying social evils too directly to disease, as if culture and biology were interchangeable. Diseases don't have moral compasses. They aren't carriers of cultural baggage, even if social structures influence how we perceive or treat them. Some of the framing -- especially when discussing 'honour,' or drawing analogies between caste and illness -- may unintentionally blur that line. That said, Dr. Rao's willingness to address taboo topics on sexual health and embarrassment around symptoms is noteworthy. These are areas many clinicians still sidestep, and his candor does add value. Questions more than answers What binds the stories together is a quiet undercurrent of systemic critique -- of how questions of affordability pushes patients to drift between practitioners, how pharmaceutical pressures warp clinical judgment, and how even the best of intentions can get lost in hierarchy. The book raises important questions about ethics, education, and the future of healthcare, especially post the worst phases of COVID where telemedicine has become a new normal. But there's also a sense of unresolved tension: for all its wisdom, the book occasionally mirrors the weak spots it seeks to illuminate -- chief among them being the patient's voice. While we hear a great deal about what patients do 'wrong,' we hear less about how medical systems and mindsets can evolve to meet them where they are, and even less from patients themselves, whose voice is entirely missing. 'Untold Tales from a Family Physician's Bag' is not just a window into a doctor's career -- it's a mirror held up to the culture of medicine itself. It's insightful, wide-ranging, and often engaging. But it also leaves the reader with discomfort, sometimes, especially about how patient experiences are narrated and interpreted. Perhaps, that discomfort is useful. It prompts reflection. How can doctors listen better? How can patients be encouraged to share more openly? Can we forsee a justice-framed healthcare system? The book doesn't offer easy answers. But it invites readers—doctors, patients, and everyone in between-- to sit with these questions. And that, perhaps, is its greatest strength.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A self-taught snake expert's 200 snake bites may lead to a universal ‘cure' for snake venom
Sure, troops getting bitten and envenomated by poisonous snakes isn't high on the list of things the Department of Defense needs to worry about. It's probably not even in the top 100, but for the guy in the unit who was bitten by a Saw-Scaled Viper while out on patrol. That particular viper is active at night, very common in Afghanistan, and is responsible for the most deaths by snake bite. It would take about 15 minutes to become one of the biggest issues a troop has out in the field. But to combat a venomous snake bite, you need to get the specific snake's antivenin, if one is available. Getting a specific kind of snake antivenin anywhere in Afghanistan was a logistical nightmare, not to mention that the U.S. military had to acquire the treatment from the government of Iran – who has not traditionally been our best friend. It would be so much easier if your medic or doc just happened to have that kind of treatment readily available, but since there are more than 100 different kinds of snake antivenins available, the chances aren't great. In America's next war, however, things might be different. A former truck driver from California has been on a nearly 20-year journey of injecting himself with snake venom and his effort may have led to a universal cure for venomous snakebites. Tim Friede is a self-taught herpetologist, a scientist from an old breed. He's like Evan O'Neill Kane, who removed his own appendix to prove it could be done using local anaesthetic, or Dr. Barry Marshall, who ate a dish of H. pylori bacteria to prove it caused ulcers. He's a researcher at Centivax, a biotech firm with the mission of creating universal vaccines and broad spectrum anti-infectives. While the company is working with the Department of Defense to create new antibiotics and a universal vaccine for influenza, Friede is on a whole different project. Friede's project is a broad-spectrum anti-venom, but his methods are pretty unusual. He started out by injecting himself with snake venom to build up an immunity, in case he was bitten while handling snakes at work. When he received two cobra bites in a row that left him in a coma, he decided to take a different approach. He has since taken more than 200 bites and more than 700 injections of venom, many from the world's deadliest snakes with venom that can kill a human very quickly – unless that human is Tim Friede. The way antivenin (or anti-venom) serums are created is by injecting small amounts of the poison into animals like horses or lambs. When the animals' immune systems start producing antibodies to fight the intruder, the antibodies are harvested and made into life-saving treatments. The only problem is, historically, you need to know what bit you. The snake anti-venom serum has to be matched to the snake. Centivax, with its unique mission, started looking to create something more universal. That's where Friede came in. If the cobra that put Friede in a coma were to bite him today, the only effect it would have is a slightly annoyed Tim Friede. He's not only immune to cobras, he's been bitten by mambas, kraits and even taipans, the world's most toxic snake. 'It just became a lifestyle and I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing as hard as I could push,' Friede told the BBC. '… for the people who are 8,000 miles away from me who die from snakebite.' Centivax began looking for antibodies from 19 elapids, snakes whose venom is a potent neurotoxin in Friede's blood. The ones they chose are identified by the World Health Organization as among the world's deadliest. They found them. A study published in the medical journal 'Cell' revealed two 'broadly neutralizing antibodies' that protected lab mice from fatal doses from 13 of 19 venomous snake species. That kind of protection means it can cover venomous bites from some snakes that don't currently have an antivenin and may even lead to a treatment for all elapid bites. There are currently a dozen different classes of toxins within snake venoms, and because of Tim Friede's 20-year mission, there may soon be a 'cure' for all of them within the next 20 years. 'I'm doing something good for humanity and that was very important to me,' he said. 'I'm proud of it. It's pretty cool.'
